BBC News
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| French farms cannot cope with their burgeoning herds |
France has
unveiled a radical plan to tackle the crisis over mad cow disease,
by slaughtering up to 10,000 cattle every week.
Cattle herds
have been building up on farms across France as the market for
beef has collapsed.
Agriculture
Minister Jean Glavany said on Thursday he would also be demanding
extra European Union cash later this month to compensate French
farmers hit by the crisis.
Beef sales
have plummeted in France and elsewhere in Europe as fears over
mad cow disease, or BSE, have spread.
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| Farmers across Europe have taken to the streets in protest |
"If Brussels
refuses to listen to the distress of French farmers, I will assume
my responsibilities, in agreement with the prime minister, and
we will re-examine the situation," Mr Glavany said in a statement.
For now, the
priority would be to "speed up the removal of animals which
are currently in excessive numbers on farms because of the lack
of buyers."
The ministry
will also increase health and customs controls to prevent greater
instability of the French market, the statement said.
New testing
measures came into force across the EU in January in a bid to
restore consumer confidence, but markets have not recovered.
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| Thousands of animals have been left unsold |
Further emergency
measures were announced by Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler
on Tuesday, designed to reduce the glut of cattle and boost non-intensive
farming methods.
Farmers in
France have stepped up their protests demanding compensation,
blockading roads and burning one consignment of foreign beef.
'Disastrous'
The National
Federation of Farmers' Unions described the current situation
as "disastrous".
It wants farmers
to get between FFr 1,000 and 3,500 ($140-491) in compensation
for each cow sold during the crisis.
In a separate
development, France's food safety agency has demanded tighter
safeguards on sheep and goat products, because of the "hypothetical"
risk that they too could be infected BSE.
The agency
said brains from sheep and goats aged more than six months should
be banned for human consumption - down from a one-year age limit
- and urged that all spleen and intestines from the animals should
be destroyed.
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